This film was the first theatrical release in the popular Japanese horror series and now it has come to theaters in the States (but a good indie video store may have an import to rent). Having seen the two preceding direct-to-videos in this series, I'm very aware of how this haunted house story came to be. This film recaps the murder that started the curse then jumps into how it continues.
Rika (Megumi Okina, ST. JOHN'S WORT) is a volunteer social worker, who is sent to the haunted house to check on an old woman (Chikako Isomura), who seems to be petrified with fear. Having seen the first two films in the series, I know what Rika is in for, but the film does a great job of creating its own dread. Once Rika is infected with the house's curse – the curse moves from person to person. As the film goes along, we learn more about the old woman's family and what happened to them inside the house. As the bodies pile up and others go insane, detective Toyama (Yoji Tanaka, TABOO), who has connections to the murders that started the curse, is assigned to investigate.
The main problem I've had with this series is that there is a lack of a central character to take us through the film. Each film in the series has progressively gotten better with this problem. I really felt the episodic restructure worked best in this film. Kind of like PULP FICTION worked. And as director Takashi Shimizu did with JU-ON 2: THE CURSE, he has come up with creepier and creepier images for each new film. There are two scenes in the film involving characters in beds that just made me want to sleep on the couch.
What's great about the films is that they don't go for the shock scares where something just jumps out at you, but goes for more of a haunting creepy feel that makes you uneasy about the fate of the characters. I think this is the best of the series, thus far, both for Rika and for the visuals. However, there was more of a character arch going between Kyoko and her brother in the second film.
In the end, the way the stories weaved together and overlapped was intriguing and I began to care about several of the characters, hoping that they'd find some way to cheat the curse. This is a solid horror series that no horror fan should skip. Others looking for scares won't go wrong here as well.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
